Case Analysis Sonoco Products Company

Sonoco Products Company (A): Building a World-Class HR Organization Sonoco Products Company is a global packaging company that began in 1899 in Hartsville, South Carolina. During 1990’s Sonoco was one of the largest packaging companies in the world with revenues reached $2.6 billion through the manufacture and sales of consumer and industrial packaging, with 17,300 employees across 285 operations in 32 countries, serving customers in 85 nations. During 1990’s the United States was enjoying economic growth during the late 1990s/early 2000s, so was the packaging industry; as a result, Sonoco’s position began to change. Sonoco was becoming increasingly more susceptible to changes in the world economy, and the packaging business began to focus higher speed computer technology for quality assurance that improvement and labor saving, production for diversified product types, and implementation of policies and action programs to meet the consumer needs, including development of innovative packaging containers and techniques. Thus, Sonoco realizes that it needs reinvent itself in order to remain competitive in their market. Hartley has to answer several questions from Sonoco’s CEO, Mr. DeLOach. Between the two plans Hartley presented as a possible solutions fro the company, the horizontal or hybrid structures, she has to prove which one is the best one would fit with the company’s goals. Being in a dynamic market, Sonoco needs a structure that reacts fast to changes in the market, so, a hybrid structure in which the divisions would have some direct involvement with planning, personnel programs, compensation, and benefits. The advantage of this structure is that it would leave a form of divisional Human Resources management intact on which general managers could still call for assistance. Moreover, these new group of Human Resources managers would be able to provide the strategic interact between corporate Human Resources functions and Sonoco’s

References: Thomas, D., Groysberg, B., & Reavis, C. (n.d.). Sonoco Products Company (A): Building a World-Class HR Organization [Review of Harvard Business School]. 1-25. Mission statement - Sonoco. (2009). Retrieved November 15, 2010, from http://www.sonoco.com/sonoco/Home/About+Us/cor_mission_statement.htm